This invention is for detection of water leaks in ceilings and specifically the detection of water leaks in ceilings where suspended ceiling panels are used.
Suspended ceiling panels are used to finish and conceal the space near the actual ceiling of a building that is used for air conditioner or heating ducts, piping (often water filled and under pressure), electrical conduit, etc. After suspended ceiling panels are installed a very presentable finished room is achieved.
Because many businesses and offices use suspended ceiling panels, it is an objective of the invention to protect specific areas of high value within an office or building, such as computing equipment, electronic instrumentation, telecommunications equipment and valuable documents and records, etc., against leakage in both occupied and unoccupied areas.
The instant invention represents the most practical approach to sensing water leakage onto the or into conventional acoustical ceiling panels. Two major factors were considered in devising this system. First, the fact that a suspended grid system, consisting of conventional supporting grid rails to retain individual panels, is normally used to hold ceiling panels in place was considered. The use of suspended grid systems means that leakage in one area of a ceiling or panel will not readily spread to other panels; the grid acting as a barrier between panels. Instead liquid will leak through a particular panel or cause leakage along an edge of a panel to an area below the ceiling. A further initial consideration is that fact that hanging wires are usually used to support a suspended grid rail system. Accordingly, any simple overall barrier, for example a large plastic covering, is not practical due to interference with the many support wires. Second, the porosity of the panels themselves means that leakage is, at least initially, readily absorbed by the panel itself rather than forming a pool or puddle on the top side of each panel which facilitate detection. Also, the porosity of the ceiling panels allows the panels to absorb water vapor from the air. This makes the panels quite conductive over a very wide range of relative humidity.
Because a suspended grid system is normally used, it is an objective of this invention to sense liquid leakage on each individual ceiling panel or a group of strategically placed panels in a ceiling. Because of the hanging grid wires and numerous other possible mechanical interference objects, e.g. duct work, water pipes, conduit, etc. located above the suspended grid, it is an objective to have the invention maintain a low profile on the top side of the ceiling panels. A low profile allows for easy installation and removal of individual ceiling panels to which the invention is attached and allows ceiling panels to be easily converted so that the ceiling panels combined with the invention become liquid sensing panels. Because the invention may be used on many ceiling panels it is an objective to allow each sensing panel to be interconnected with another sensing panel so that the circuit of the invention can extend from panel to panel and allow each sensing panel to be easily disengaged or engaged with every other sensing panel; this ability facilitates maintenance and repair of the ceiling as well as ease of use of the invention.
It is the main objective of this invention to provide an early warning system for detecting and indicating when liquid leaks into or onto suspended acoustical ceiling panels before the liquid leaks through or along the edges of the panels to the area located below.